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  • CA Targets DLP With Purchase Of Orchestra


    CA has bought New York-based Orchestria Corporation, a leading provider of data loss prevention (DLP) technology.

    The company intends to develop and sell Orchestria’s information-centric DLP product in the rapidly growing DLP market.

    More ambitiously, it says it plans to transform the way organizations think about DLP, identity management and information security overall.

    A CA statement said: “Organizations and auditors need to know who has access to data and what they can do with it at a role or user level.

    “By using Orchestria’s DLP technology with CA identity and access management solutions, organizations will now be able to consolidate and strengthen their security postures by including information-centric policies in the process of centrally managing users and roles, and their access throughout the enterprise.”

    Dave Hansen, corporate senior vice president and general manager, CA Security Management, said the acquisition would allow CA to deliver one of the broadest and most advanced information security solutions in the market today and address the demand for a new generation of identity and access management.

    “We are continuing our aggressive plan to deliver to our customers a comprehensive solution for identity and access management to help meet their security, compliance and privacy needs,” he said.

    Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

  • EMC Cuts Jobs Despite Strong Results


    EMC is laying off 2,400 workers in a bid to streamline operations in the face of economic recession.

    The cuts represent about 7 per cent of its global 41,900 employee workforce.

    Despite the move, EMC is expected to post record quarterly revenue growth that will meet fourth-quarter expectations.

    The storage giant said in a statement that Q4 2008 revenues would total about USD $4 billion.

    This represents 4 per cent growth over the same period a year ago and an 8 per cent increase compared with the third quarter of 2008.

    EMC said the staff reductions were necessary to ensure it remained ahead of the downturn.

    The staffing cuts are expected to reduce expenses by USD $350 million in 2009 and USD $500 million by 2010.

    The company’s last redundancies took place in 2007, when it axed 1,350 jobs.

    At the time it said these were required because acquisitions had led to overlapping staff.

  • Blu-ray Growth Bolsters Dipping DVD Sales


    US consumer spending on packaged home entertainment – rental and sales of DVD and high-def disc formats – fell by 5.5 per cent in 2008, to USD $22.4 billion, according to the Digital Entertainment Group.

    Spending on DVD purchases fell more dramatically than the total, declining by 9 per cent, to about USD $14.5 billion, and the shipment of DVD units was down almost 15 per cent in 2008 to 1.4 Billion

    That contrasts with expenditure on high-def discs, primarily Blu-ray Disc, which almost tripled during the year to reach USD $750 million.

    The figures, compliled by DEG with input from all the major studios, which while still dwarfed by those for DVD show that Blu-ray software shipments grew 250 per cent, to 63.2 million units in 2008, from 18 million units in 2007.

    Sales of Blu-ray players, including videogame consoles, meanwhile, grew to almost 10 million units since the format’s launch.
    The trade group said that in the fourth quarter alone, 3 million devices were sold.

    The DEG figures coincide with a SNL Kagan report that says Blu-ray discs will soon rescue the industry.

    Kagan suggests the growth of Blu-ray will eventually make up for losses in the standard-def category.

    "Retail revenue should start to grow again in 2010. Sales should start a short period of growth as high-definition player prices drop below $200 in 2011 and Blu-ray really begins to penetrate the mass market," Kagan says in its report.

    Blu-ray players in the US dipped under USD $200 at the end of 2008 and Vizio is to launch a USD $199 Blu-ray player in April.

    Kagan said Blu-ray sales represented less than three percent of home video revenue in 2008. But the research firm projects that it will grow to around 19 percent by 2011.

  • HD Content Helps Freesat Double Sales


    Freesat doubled sales of its satellite packages in the last quarter of 2008.

    Emma Scott, MD of the UK’s free-to-air digital satellite television service, said high definition content from the BBC and ITV have helped drive sales.

    Since the service launched in May 2008, over 200,000 sales have been recorded, with 100,000 of those coming in the months since September.

    "Freesat is able to offer incredible HD with no subscription," said Scott.

    "We’re thrilled that both the BBC and ITV are investing more in HD programming in 2009.

    Scott said key goals in 2009 include increasing Freesat’s product range and distribution by the quality and choice of channels and services available, and the anticipated launch of IPTV services, like BBC iPlayer onto Freesat later this year.

  • Yahoo Widget Engine Gets HDTV Makers' Backing


    Yahoo has agreed deals with a host of big-name HDTV makers, including Samsung, LG, Sony and Vizio, that will result in their sets supporting Yahoo’s online service.

    The alliances put Yahoo firmly at the forefront of the drive towards the convergence of the Internet and TV.

    The new TVs will be available from as early as the spring and will support widgets – small Internet applications – that operate alongside broadcast TV content.

    After making the announcement at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Yahoo said the applications can be used for a variety of Web activities.

    These include YouTube, MySpace, tracking stocks and sports teams, buying and selling on eBay, messaging friends using Twitter, or using Flickr.

    The widgets give viewers more interaction with the programs they’re watching.

    There will also be applications based on Yahoo-branded services such as Yahoo Finance.

    Yahoo will use the technology as a means to to sell advertising.

    The technology also allows outsiders to write TV applications for the platform.

  • Panasonic Takes Blu-ray Portable


    Panasonic has unveiled the first portable Blu-ray player at the CES in Las Vegas.

    The DMP-B15 features an 8.9-inch WSVGA display and along with the ability to play Blu-ray discs it also has access (via Ethernet connection to the Internet) to VIERA CAST.

    Fully Profile 2.0 (BD-Live) compliant it also features an SD card.

    The DMP-B15 offers three hours of playback time through a built-in rechargeable battery.

    It can also be connected to an HDTV using an HDMI connection, which means that it could technically be used as a stand-alone player in the home, or even while on the go.

    The DMP-B15 will be available beginning in May 2009, no details yet on the expected cost.

  • TringMe Combines Voice with PHP


    TringMe has announced a method of marrying VoIP with PHP – VoicePHP.

    The Bangalore, India-based startup, describes VoicePHP as an extension of PHP that now outputs voice instead of text and also takes input as voice instead of text.

    Other approaches to combining web applications with voice include using Voice XML or Adobe’s Flash.

    TringMe said VoicePHP is intended to do the same things as VoiceXML, but by adopting the familiar PHP programming methology.

    This enables it to remain attractive to the numerous PHP-proficient developers and ensure a stream of voice applications.

    Essentially, with VoicePHP there’s no need to learn a new markup language, tags, or attributes associated with VoiceXML.

    Widely and freely available tools for developing, debugging PHP can be continued to use with VoicePHP.

    It also means that an application written in VoicePHP can be accessed via Flash, instant messenger, Mobile VoIP clients or even conventional phone lines.

    This gives TringMe an advantage over rivals.

    It should also enable the start-up to generate revenue as VoicePHP grows popular and more web-voice application developers use its VoIP platform.

  • Motorola Unveils Router That Combines WiMAX, Wi-Fi and VoIP Connectivity


    Motorola has released an all-in-one access point that combines WiMAX, Wi-Fi and VoIP, along with an Ethernet port.

    The wi4 WiMAX CPEi 775 is a WiMAX 802.16e modem with an integrated Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g router, VoIP ATA ports for voice calling, and an Ethernet port.

    Unveiled at the Consumer Electronics show in Las Vegas, this is the second generation for the router.

    Motorola said the CPEi 775 follows the award winning CPEi 850.

    The company said that by incorporating adaptive switching techniques, the CPEi 775 does not need to be rotated for optimal signal strength, allowing easier installation.

    With some of the most advanced antenna designs available today, Motorola claims the CPEi 775 sets new standards for device transmit power and receive sensitivity — two factors that have a big impact on a network operator’s bottom line, and the number of cells required to provide coverage.

    Charles Riggle, senior director of strategy and business development, WiMAX devices, Motorola Home & Networks Mobility, said service providers are looking for ways to leverage the speed and performance of WiMAX for more advanced services as mobile WiMAX networks proliferate globally.

    "It takes considerable know-how to put two different radio technologies together in a single package with internal antennas and not suffer from interference or degraded throughput," he said.

    "With the CPEi 775, we are able to provide high performance in a very attractive form factor."

  • Slower Growth Expected In IP Contact Center Market


    Global economic problems will cause a slowdown in spending in the IP contact center (IPCC) market in 2009, according to Infonetics Research.

    The communications market research firm reports that while the overall Unified Communications and IPCC markets will experience a downturn, the IPCC and communicator segments will weather the economic downturn better than others.

    Infonetics said sales of UC products ended mixed in 2008, with unified messaging platform sales up and communicator software sales flat.

    Matthias Machowinski, analyst, Infonetics Research

    Overall, the IPCC market finished 2008 up 37 per cent over 2007, with many vendors reporting robust sales, particularly in Asia Pacific.

    Worldwide, businesses bought USD $851 million in IP contact center equipment in 2008, up 37 per cent from USD $622 million in 2007, based on the report.

    The 2008 numbers are based on actual sales numbers for the first half of the year and projections for the second half.

    Current economic conditions make repeating this level of activity virtually impossible.

    Matthias Machowinski, Infonetics Research’s directing analyst for enterprise voice and data, said the communicator market continues to be fluid.

    He said growth was not yet following established patterns and market share positions were shifting one period to the next as PBX vendors battle each other and Microsoft.

    "It’s an exciting market to watch, and one that should thrive in 2009, even as the overall enterprise telephony market declines due to the economic environment," he said.

    "Similarly, the IPCC market will slow down in 2009, but should do relatively well as customers find IP contact centers, self service, and automation cost effective ways to deliver on customer service."

    Other report highlights:

    • In 1H08, over a million IPCC seats were sold worldwide
    • Avaya still leads the IPCC market by far in 1H08, but lost share to Cisco and Alcatel-Lucent
    • Nortel takes the lead in unified messaging license market share in 1H08, while Avaya maintains its lead in revenue market share; Cisco is now a close 3rd for both

  • fring Mobile VoIP Gets WinMo Approval


    Microsoft has awarded fring’s mobile VoIP application its “Designed for Window Mobile” certification.

    The approval is the latest for fring, which has been working to develop its popular IM/ VOIP application for different platforms.

    In October, fring was approved by Apple for use on its iPhone and iPod devices.

    The company has also released a new version of fring for Windows Mobile devices (version 3.34), including Sony Ericsson’s new Xperia multimedia device.

    New features include the ability to send files over IP to fring, Skype, MSN and Yahoo contacts at the touch of a button.

    Navigation has been improved with a new ‘Go- To menu’, ‘Privacy’, and ‘Joystick-In’ settings, while Add-ons have been extended and improved and can be managed more easily through a new Add-Ons Management screen.

    Fring for Windows Mobile also allows HTC users to use earpieces for extra privacy.

    The application is available to to download from fring now.